


Dresden Dancing Remix

by Imnotweirdjustwriting



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Daveys POV, Lap Dances, M/M, Mentions of Race Sarah and Crutchie, stripper Davey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 14:01:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14833625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imnotweirdjustwriting/pseuds/Imnotweirdjustwriting
Summary: The same paper, the same romance, the same lap dance, all from Davey’s POV(a one year celebration)





	Dresden Dancing Remix

The heat of the club felt like a physical weight against Davey. He tapped his fingers against the bar, leaning heavily against it. He had stepped away for a moment to grab a drink and ground himself in the overwhelming noise of the club. He scanned the crowd as he eagerly drank his water, barely seeing faces. Nights at the club seemed dull to Davey now. The endless stream of bodies all blurred into each other, unimportant to him. 

He sighed, straightening and sliding his empty glass back to the bartender. He fixed his vest, smoothing it down so it looked better. He didn’t know why he was fussing over it. People didn’t care about rumpled vests this late at night. 

“Do you work here?” A voice asked near his elbow. 

Davey turned to face the voice. Two men who didn’t even look old enough to be in the club were staring back at him. Davey blinked at them both for a moment before realizing one of them had asked a question. 

“Yeah, I work here,” he said in what he hoped was a calm and polite manner. 

One of the men beamed and leaned towards his friend. Davey heard him whisper something though he only caught the word ‘pretty’. The other man laughed loudly as if Davey wasn’t standing in front of them. 

“Do you do lap dances?” He asked bluntly. 

Davey nodded, unfazed. “Yeah, I can do that.”

His smile was blinding. “That’s great, you’re perfect. How much?”

Davey was too tired to pay attention to people. He’d woken up early for class and only wanted to be at home asleep at the moment. 

“We can figure that out after,” he said. He wanted to get this over with. “Is this for one of you two or...?” He let the question hang in the air, waiting for one of them to respond. 

“No, this is for our buddy Jack. He’s too stressed, he needs something to calm down.”

Davey allowed himself a brief moment to question what a lap dance would do to calm someone down before answering. “Okay. One of you can just go get him and I’ll do my thing.” 

“Go get him, Race,” one of the men said. The other, Race presumably, disappeared into the crowd. 

Davey was left with the other man, who Davey had to admit, was quite pretty. His fluffy hair was lit with the colors of the club in a way that kept catching Davey’s attention. 

“Do you have to do anything to get ready?” He asked Davey, obviously trying to keep the silence from getting awkward. 

Davey shrugged. “Not really.” He was lost in his own head, distracted more than he usually was. If he really cared he would be paying attention and talking to people around the club. Instead he was practically zoned out and wishing he was at home. 

Race reappeared, dragging behind him the most distressingly handsome man Davey had ever seen. His attire would have made Davey laugh, usually. The bright orange v-neck shouldn’t have been so flattering. Davey’s mind short-circuited for a moment. He was pulled back into the present by Race proudly saying something to the handsome man. 

“Is this him?” Davey asked. The man wasn’t even looking at him, just staring at Race like he had pulled him to the gates of hell. 

“Oh yeah, this is him. Jack,” Race said, nudging Jack forward. Jack finally looked at Davey, his lovey eyes wide with surprise. Davey very suddenly was not upset that he had to do anything for this man. 

“You can sit down,” Davey told him, motioning to the chair. 

Jack turned to say something to his other friend quietly and angrily. His friend only lightly pushed him away, finally convincing Jack to sit in the chair. Davey moved to stand in front of him as Race whistled. 

Jack wasn’t looking at him, his face turned down. Davey put his hands on either side of the chair, giving Jack one last chance to look at him before sliding into his lap. Jack was focused entirely on his tie, so Davey smoothly removed his it. He carefully moved it behind Jack’s neck, forcing him to look up. His face was flushed, his eyes wide. Davey was struck with the sudden desire to kiss him. 

He didn’t, standing instead to pull off his vest and shirt. Jack was watching him intently, his hands anchored on his legs. Davey pushed them away to climb back onto Jack’s lap. He ground down slowly, pulling Jack’s attention back to him. Jack met Davey’s eyes for a moment before looking away again. Davey went through the rest of the song methodically, caught up in his head of all the things he could rather be doing with Jack. 

He finally slid off of his lap, helping Jack stand. He was bright red and looked like he wanted to say something. His friend that was not Race pulled him down to talk to him. Davey watched as the three of them exchanged a few words before Race lead Jack away. 

“How much do I owe you?” The man left behind asked. 

Davey said the stupidest thing he could think of. “For him? Nothing.”

The man blinked at Davey. “Are you sure?”

Davey nodded, clearly unable to think coherently. “I’m sure. Enjoy the rest of your night.”

The man wished him the same and followed the path Jack and Race had made through the crowd. Davey watched them go, his eyes trained on Jack. 

The rest of his shift passed in a blur. He hardly focused on anything, caught up in thoughts about Jack. His soft hair and nice eyes and the way his face had gone red looking at Davey. Davey knew he wouldn’t see him again but his thoughts didn’t cease. 

He found himself outside the club at the end of his shift, breathing in the fresh air. Maybe the walk home would help him forget. He tried to distract himself as he walked, reciting his class schedule in his head. He was starting another class this week, that was more important than Jack. 

Davey practically collapsed in his bed the moment he was home. He found himself unable to sleep, finally giving up and pulling out his phone. He opened Wikipedia, randomly selecting an article. /Bombing of Dresden in World War II/. Usually he learning a new topic made him tired. He read through the article twice before his eyes grew heavy. He finally fell asleep, his phone dropping to the pillow beside him. 

 

Class started without incident, but given Davey’s luck it didn’t last long. 

The professor was introducing a project, an argumentative essay that had Davey pulling his laptop out to research possible topics. He wasn’t listening as the professor listed off the pairs, only perking up when he heard his name. His name and Jack Kelly’s. Every single bone in his body hoped that it was a different Jack. Jack was a common enough name, surely it wasn’t the same man. 

Davey stood up, glancing around the room to see who the Jack was. 

He almost bolted. It /was/ him, the Jack from the club. He was looking at Davey without recognition, dressed much nicer in a flannel over a paint stained t shirt.

He started walking towards Davey, stopping in front of him with his hand extended for a handshake. 

“Hi, I’m Jack,” he said. He looked different without the v-neck and tight jeans, almost gentler. Davey wasn’t sure which he preferred. 

He shook Jack’s extended hand. “I’m David,” he said. 

“Do you have an idea for a controversial topic?” Jack asked a little unsurely.

Davey knew Jack probably had no idea what topic they would chose. Davey, thankfully, read weird Wiki articles when he couldn’t sleep. “I was actually reading about this last night,” he started, trying not to sound too excited in fear of freaking Jack out. “The bombing of Dresden, it's controversial and easy to research."

 

Jack nodded, agreeing quickly. They settled in to start researching. Jack was reading something right away while Davey just put a bunch of books in the library on hold. He couldn’t focus with Jack across from him. The way the computer lit up his pretty eyes while he read, and the way that he was chewing on his lip just a little. Davey’s heart was doing flips, tearing all of his focus away.

Davey gave up trying to research. He had already blindly put almost 30 books on hold trying to distract himself. He stared very pointedly at his computer screen, trying to rehearse a way to ask Jack to work on the project. He had no clue what to say. He decided to just put his stuff away instead, panicking a little when Jack noticed. 

"We can work on this sometime this week if you're free," Davey said without even thinking. "I can shoot you an email and we can plan a time to meet."

Davey nearly bit his tongue off. ‘Shoot you an email?’ what year was it?? Of course he could have just asked Jack for his number, but that was an even worse idea.

Jack seemed entirely unfazed by Davey. “Sounds good to me. It was a pleasure.”

Davey shook Jack’s head, adding a wave too just because he was an idiot and had no idea what he was doing. He practically ran away from Jack, pulling his phone out to call his sister.

“Sarah,” he gasped into the phone. “I think I have a crush on a boy.” 

Sarah didn’t say anything for so long Davey checked that he’d even called her. Finally she spoke. “I’m sorry, did you forget you’re gay?”

Davey laughed but it sounded a little off. “No! No I didn’t forget. I’m saying I’m super fucking into this guy, who I gave a damn lap dance to last week, who I know have to do a project with-”

“You gave him a lap dance?” Sarah asked quickly.

“It’s part of my job! How was I supposed to know he would be in my history class with me? I’m gonna be sick.”

Sarah sounded like she was trying not to laugh. “Does he even remember you?”

Davey paused to think. Jack hadn’t even blinked at him, no hint of recognition. “I guess he doesn’t.”

“Great! So go do the project with him and never mention it, okay? What happens happens. Maybe he’s into you too.” 

“Oh yeah, good one Sarah,” Davey fumbled in his bag for his keys. “The prettiest boy in all of New York happens to be gay, too.”

“You never know,” Sarah said wisely. “Call me when something happens. And make sure you call mom and dad! Les told me they’re mad they never hear from you.”

“Okay,” Davey said, finally back in his apartment. “Bye sis.”

“Talk to you later, Dave. Love ya.”

Davey let her hang up, tossing his bag down and finding his way to his bed without taking his shoes off. He was so so fucked. 

He pulled his phone out, opening an email to Jack Kelly before his brain caught up with his hands. He didn’t even think, just quickly tapped out a very long and unnecessary email that basically narrowed down to “please meet me in the library at6 so we can do our work”. 

Davey changed into a new hoodie because he’d panic sweated through his shirt. It was just past noon, but he was already going to head to the library. He needed to get books. 

The librarian gave him a very long look when Davey approached the information deck to pick up his holds.

“Big project?” She asked as she heaved book after book over the counter.

“You could call it that, yeah,” Davey said with a sheepish smile. He somehow managed to get all of the books into the study room without falling, exhaling hard as he looked at the stack. He set to work organizing them by German history, bombing information, and actual Dresen information. 

Hours blurred together as Davey skimmed the books, sticky noting areas to come back to. He was just wasting time, trying to dull his nerves before he had to see Jack again. At least the topic was interesting.

His phone lit up with a notification, in huge and scary letters: EMAIL FROM JACK KELLY. Davey scrambled for his phone, opening it quickly. Jack was coming to meet him at the library now. Davey almost bolted from the study room, going to the front to meet Jack.

He got there just in time, waving to Jack as he went up the stairs. He had changed his clothes into even softer and casual clothes, which made Davey’s throat tight for no reason. 

"Jack! Here, the room is over by the computers," Davey said, forgetting to say hello. 

He basically dragged Jack into the study room, yelling at himself internally as they both sat down. He was so stupid.

Jack whisted in a way that made Davey’s brain short-circuit. “All of these are about Dresden?” he asked like he was actually impressed with Davey,

"No, that's silly,” Davey said, eager to let Jack down apparently. “There are some on World War Two, some on war bombing, some on war bombing during World War Two, a few on the history of Germany, and yeah, a few about Dresden." Davey nearly groaned. Jack didn’t care.

"Are you hungry?" He asked Davey, his hand already in his bag.

"Yeah, but you're not supposed to eat in the library,” Davey said like a nerd.

Jack scoffed, already pulling his food out. "We aren't in the library. We're in a study room. Have a coke."

Davey accepted a pop, watching with horror as Jack added M&Ms to his bagel bites. 

“That’s disgusting,” he said.

Jack shrugged, popping one into his mouth and flashing a grin at Davey so lovely that Davey couldn’t even hear what Jack said over the rush of blood in his ears. He caught the tail end of “Arthur Harris” and laughed without thinking. 

“A Dresden joke? Good job.” He sounded like such a nerd he wanted to hit his own head against the wall until he started acting cool and suave or whatever. 

Davey watched Jack practically deepthroat a bagel bite before he asked, “Should we blame the United States?”

Davey swallowed a laugh. Jack clearly hadn’t done a lot of research. He sat down, flipping some of the Dresden focused books open. “No, of course not. Here I was reading this and it has a lot about Great Britain, specifically how their bombing techniques caused the mass destruction in Dresden. See the United States was practicing targeted bombing, which focuses on a specific military area to destroy, like train tracks or oil rigs. The British had a much worse technique called area bombing, where he goal was to inflict mass amounts of damage and terror among survivors.” 

Davey knew he was rambling because he could see how glazed over Jack’s eyes had become. He switched to stalking some of the books that he’d already read in front of Jack, telling him exactly where to look for quotes. 

Jack looked at Davey, a little baffled as he realized how much work he was doing compared to Jack. “Are you sure? That seems like a lot, do you even have time?” 

Davey nodded. He had plenty of time on his hands, and he could always find moments to read when he wasn’t working the crowd at the club. “I’ll be fine,” he said, omitting the whole club details. “This is a fun paper.”

Davey lifted one of the larger books, ready to use it as the base of quite a large stack. 

“If you insist,” Jack said, lifting his books as well. “We can meet back here tomorrow night,” Jack added. Davey nearly dropped his books when he said that. “Or we could meet at the cafe.”

“How about the cafe around 6?” Davey offered, even though if it was his choice they’d go now and spend the rest of their day there because Davey really didn’t want to say goodbye to Jack for some reason. “We don’t have to do much else besides reading currently.”

Jack nodded, readjusting so he could extend his hand for another handshake. “See you then.”

“Be safe,” Davey said, and maybe for a fraction of a second his hand tightened in Jack’s before he let go a moment too late. Davey practically ran out of the library, seriously hindered by the massive stack of books that was reminding him how badly he needed to get some arm muscle. 

He went right back to his dorm, dropping all his books onto the table. He could deal with it tomorrow. 

 

Davey stopped outside of the cafe, pulling his phone out to call Sarah. 

“Did something happen?” She asked. 

“No, well, sort of. I’m meeting him at the cafe right now.”

“A date?” Sarah asked, a smile in her voice. Davey thought maybe she was teasing him. 

“No, it’s for the research project. But do you think it feels like a date? I’m definitely getting some weird date vibes right now! What if he takes it that way?!”

Sarah took an audible breath. “Calm down, Dave. You’ll be okay. It’s a research project, and he probably doesn’t even care about whatever you’re researching so just go in there, smile, and don’t freak out.”

Davey did that stupid thing where he nodded even though Sarah wasn’t there. “Okay. Thank you. I love you, send Les my love.”

“Love you too, bro. Keep sending me updates.”

Davey stared at his phone for a while after Sarah hung up. He knew he should go inside. He did not want to go inside. He went inside. 

Jack was already sitting at a table, a drink cooling slowly in front of him. 

Davey sat down, not even thinking as he asked, “Did you start reading yet?” 

“I started a few,” he said, not meeting Davey’s eyes as he stirred his shockingly thick hot chocolate. 

 

“Okay,” Davey said, accepting Jack’s lie. He started explaining the entire history of Dresden, watching Jack quickly scribble down notes, his leg bouncing, doodling in the margins like he couldn’t stay still and focus. He seemed to have a moment of realization, grabbing out some notes to show Davey. 

“These are perfect,” Davey said, looking over the quotes and explanations that Jack had carefully copied onto paper.

He opened his laptop, quickly typing the better quotes onto the bottom of his doc. 

“Do you want another coffee?” Jack asked him. 

Davey hasn’t even gotten himself a coffee yet. “Do you mind?” Jack shook his head, which made Davey smile for no reason. “Just don’t load it with whatever crap you put in yours.” He’d seen the way that Jack had prepared his hot chocolate. 

“This is how you repay my kindness?” Jack said with a small insulated noise. 

“I don’t want to die young from health complications,” Davey joked. 

Jack just shrugged, the smallest smile on his lips that Davey shouldn’t be focusing on as much as he was. “Fair enough.”

Davey half watched Jack as he grabbed them drinks, finishing up the last of the paper outline. Jack was walking very slowly towards him, handing Davey his drink. 

Davey fumbled with the drink, splashing the hot coffee onto his lap. He yelled, jumping up as he swore. 

“Jeez, Dave, you weren’t this clumsy Friday night,” Jack joked. 

Davey felt like he’d swallowed a bucket of golf balls. “You recognized me?” He asked. He knew his voice was too high and he knew his face was bright red but he had no way to come back from this. 

“How could I not? You’re quite memorable,” Jack said. 

“Can’t we just do Dresden and act like that never happened?” Davey asked. He focused on wiping the coffee off of his things, sitting back down. 

“Why are you even working there anyways? You don’t seem the type,” Jack asked. 

Davey had no idea what he meant, trying and failing to laugh as he answered. “How do you think I’m paying for this class.”

“Never mind. I was tuning we can talk about the concept of area bombing versus terror bombing. 

Davey didn’t bother explaining to him that it was the same thing, just dove into conversation about Dresden, ignoring the whole lap dance fact that seemed to cloud the air between them.

They both finished two more coffees before they were done with the outline, Jack nodding like he actually understood their paper for the first time. 

“I’ll email you if you want to meet again,” Davey said, because he knew he was supposed to. He couldn’t just avoid Jack now. 

“Yeah, sounds good,” Jack threw back the rest of his coffee in one awe inspiring gulp. “I’ll see you then.”

Jack shook Davey’s hand because apparently that’s what they were doing now. Davey left first, calling Sarah once again. 

“What happened?” Sarah asked. If Davey listened closely he could hear Les in the background, trying to get Sarah’s attention back from the phone. 

“He remembered the lap dance,” Davey gasped, almost running back to his dorm. 

“Oh shit,” Sarah stuttered. “Les, don’t say that,” she whispered. 

“I know, I know, I don’t know what to do!” Davey was trying to readjust his coffee stained things so they didn’t fall before he made it back. 

“Did he drop the project?” Sarah asked. 

“No.”

“Did he say anything about wanting to not see you again?”

“No. Actually, he said he wanted to keep meeting up, and some thing about the whole lap dance thing being memorable.”

“That’s good!” Sarah said quickly. “At least he still wants to be around you!”

“Yeah, but, I don’t know what to do!” Davey was getting very flustered very quickly. 

“It will be fine, just finish the project. I need to go, Les is gonna get glued to the TV before I can stop him. I’ll call you later,” Sarah was speaking very gently. 

“Okay. Bye,” Davey didn’t bother with anything else as he hung up. 

He could survive this. He could get through it. It was just Jack Kelly, how bad could it get?

 

The worst thing that Jack brought to Davey was his s’mores pizza. Of course, everything Jack brought in the weeks they met to work on their project was awful. Even the slushee he’s brought Davey today was horrid, a mix of every single flavor. 

“Tell me about your siblings,” Jack had said when they’d sat down. 

Instead of lingering on the lap dance thing, Davey and Jack had moved on to talk about themselves. The project was mostly forgotten, set aside as an outline as they shared facts about themselves, their jobs, their families. 

Davey talked about Sarah and Les happily. He loved his siblings, and he loved how Jack got excited when he talked about them. Jack didn’t have any siblings, but he had a group of friends that seemed as close as siblings. He interrupted Davey’s stories hundreds of times to point out which friend would get along best with Sarah, or even Les. 

Davey wasn’t quite as happy to talk about his job, but he was today. Jack was a genuinely curious person, and Davey felt like he could talk without Jack passing any sort of judgement like everyone else did. 

Jack tapped a pencil against Davey’s binder, clearly nervous as he thought of how to ask whatever he was thinking. “If you don’t mind me asking,” Jack started, though Davey was sure it wasn’t that bad. “why do you have this job?”

Davey let himself frown for a second. He picked nervously at his nail, focusing on that and not on Jack. “It’s not a very interesting story.”

“I don’t mind,” Jack said, completely honest. 

Davey took a breath, bracing himself to speak. It wasn’t even that bad. It was just facts. “My family can’t really afford college,” Davey admitted. He knew it wasn’t shameful, they had their reasons, and college was expensive enough as it was. “My dad, he got fired before I started this year. He hurt his arm really bad.”

Jack made a small and empathetic noise. “Is he okay?” 

Davey picked more at his nails even though he knew he shouldn’t. “He's almost recovered now, he just…” Davey struggled for the right words but didn’t find them. “doesn't really have a job. My mom was going to get one, but my little brother needs someone to take care of him. His name is Les. I don't want my parents leaving him alone just to pay for me. And my sister, Sarah. Well, she can't really watch him.” Les only saw Sarah when he had ‘baseball practice’, the only excuse they could think of to get him out of the house. 

"Why not?" Jack asked, even though it was the last thing Davey wanted him to ask. 

“She's, uh, she's gay,” Davey’s throat felt even tighter. “ And my parents didn't like it when she came out. She sort of left, sort of got kicked out." Davey felt tears pricking in his eyes remembering it. 

"What about you?" Jack asked, and Davey realized that was the question he really didn’t want Jack to ask. 

Davey rubbed a hand across his face like he could stop the emotions from showing. "They don't really know. That I'm gay," he voice sounded strained but he couldn’t stop it. "They know I have a job, that's why I'm still here. Sarah knows but she would never tell them. It's the fastest and easiest way I can pay for this year."

Jack touched Davey’s shoulder and Davey turned to look at him. Jack surged forward, kissing Davey. Davey didn’t think, he just froze. Jack realized and pulled away quickly, looking at Davey expectedly. 

“What the hell was that?” Davey asked. He didn’t know what to say or even how to feel. His heart was pounding in his ears and everything was too much and Jack was looking at him with side eyes and panic. 

“What? I-“ he stuttered. 

Davey’s mind finally settled on anger, though he didn’t know why, just cut Jack off. "You pity me and you think kissing me will make it better? Just because I'm gay or something?" Davey’s mouth wasn’t responding to his brain but he couldn’t stop himself from speaking. 

Jack struggled for words, clearly trying to explain himself to Davey. "No, David, I didn't mean-"

"It doesn't matter what you meant. Just-" Davey scrubbed his hands over his face and exhaled hard. "Get back to your dorm safe."

Davey grabbed his things, throwing himself out of his seat and away from Jack. He wanted to leave, he needed to be gone right away. He wouldn’t look at Jack at all. 

"Davey!" Jack called. He kept walking. "Dave, please. David!"

Davey didn't turn back. 

He kept walking, all the way to Sarah’s, his feet carrying him on autopilot. 

He was knocking on her door before his pulse stopped screaming in his ears. 

“Davey?” Sarah said when she opened the door. 

“I need help,” he said, though those weren’t the right words. 

Sarah stepped aside to let her brother in immediately, ushering him to her couch. “What happened?” She asked gently. 

“Jack kissed me,” Davey said, his voice tight. 

“I’m guessing that’s not a good thing then?” Sarah was talking to him like he was a scared animal. 

“We were talking,” Davey fumbled for words but couldn’t find them. 

“About?” Sarah prompted. 

“About you, sort of,” Davey took a breath. “Mostly about out parents, and the whole,” he felt like he was stumbling over his own tongue. “The gay thing.”

“Oh,” Sarah said, her voice a little halting. “Did he get upset?”

“No,” Davey raked a hand through his hair. “He was understanding, really, I just got so upset.”

“Why? What did he do?” Sarah asked. 

“He kissed me. He’s not even gay and he kissed me.”

“What do you mean he’s not gay? Why would you know that, Dave?”

“Because he’s told me all about his ex girlfriends. He just kissed me cuz he pitied me.”

Sarah set a hand gently on Davey’s thigh. “You’re telling me that this guy, who got a lap dance from you- a guy- at the gay club that you work at. You’re telling me he’s one hundred percent straight?”

Davey exhaled hard. “Yeah, I guess, he’s not gay that’s for sure.”

“Okay, Dave, I’m gonna be a little blunt with you for a second. People can be bi.”

Davey blinked. He blinked again. “Oh.”

Sarah squeezed his knee. “I’m not saying get your hopes up or anything, I’m just saying you should probably talk to him after you’ve both calmed down.”

“Yeah,” Davey said, nodding. “Yeah, later, I’ll talk to him.”

“Okay,” Sarah let go of Davey’s knee and reached for the TV remote. “Let’s watch a movie while you calm down.”

They sat in silence, both completely focused on the movie Sarah had picked out. Davey wasn’t sure if it was Ratatouille or some other cooking show, but it was definitely calming him down. 

“Are you staying here?” Sarah asked Davey once the movie was over. 

Davey nodded. “Yeah, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Sarah tossed a blanket at Davey. “Clean up after yourself. I’ll see you in the morning.” 

Davey watched Sarah go back to her bed, tucking himself in on her couch. No matter how long he laid there, he couldn’t stop thinking about Jack. 

He was never going to sleep like this. He needed to go explain himself. 

He was out Sarah’s door before he even caught up with the fact that he was going. He only sort of knew where Jack lived from the times they’d talked about their weird neighborhoods.

He found his way to Jack’s apartment somehow, knocking on the door before he could second guess himself. 

Jack, thankfully, opened the door. He looked like he was about to slam it shut, but Davey put a hand on the door to stop him. 

“Please, Jack, I need to talk to you,” Davey couldn’t keep the pleading edge out of his voice. 

 

Jack didn’t say anything, just stepped aside to let Davey in. 

Davey was panicking a lot, running his hands through his hair so much that he knew it was sticking up. 

“Listen, Dave, about earlier-“

Davey turned to face Jack, holding his hand up to stop him. “No, you listen,” Davey took a very deep breath before launching into the monologue that had been forming in his head since he started the walk to Jack’s. “I realized that you sort of got a lap dance from me at a gay bar, and yeah, that means you're probably not straight and you probably had a reason to kiss me,” Davey left out the whole forgetting about bisexuality part, just continued before his brain caught up with his mouth. “Maybe I'm kidding myself but you could have had your own motivation to kiss me. I don't want to start assuming things but I don't want you to think I'm mad at you because I was being stupid. You're just so attractive and it's really been throwing me off and the kiss today was like, the final straw. And I really would want to kiss you again but like I said, I could just be kidding myself and-"

Jack grabbed Davey by the tie he’d forgotten to take off before laying down at Sarah’s, using it to pull Davey in for a kiss. Davey couldn’t stop the surprised noise that was completely muffled against Jack’s lips. 

Jack was kissing Davey hard, and Davey responded eagerly, letting Jack pull Davey closer by the front of his shirt as Davey clutched at his hips. Davey moved even closer to Jack, savoring the way that Jack’s hands were running through his hair, tugging lightly as he pressed closer to Davey. 

Jack was clearly already very worked up, moaning a little as Davey kissed him deeper. Davey let his hands explore, lightly touching Jack’s bare stomach. Jack responded immediately, leaning back as he pulled his shirt off. 

“Do you only own V-necks?” Davey asked, struggling to keep his voice even as he watched Jack. 

Jack made a noise that would’ve sounded insulted if he wasn’t breathing hard. “It’s my sleep shirt, I get hot. 

Davey took a moment to touch Jack, his hands heavy on his bare ribs. “Is that why you’re in these?” He teased, dipping his thumbs in the waistband of Jack’s impossibly short shorts. 

“It keeps me cool,” Jack managed, his voice breathy. 

Davey didn’t get a chance to respond before Jack’s lips were back on his. Jack was pulling Davey closer, kissing him harder, pushing him back against the wall. Davey made another surprised noise, struggling to think as Jack kissed him desperately. 

Jack left his lips for his neck and Davey’s brain completely short circuited. Jack’s lips were like fire as he mouthed at Davey’s collarbone, his teeth sinking in to suck a bruise. Davey tried and failed not to moan, his hands scrambling for purchase in Jack’s hair, gasping each time Jack bit at his chest. Jack kept unbuttoning more buttons as he marked up Davey’s chest, coaxing more and more moans from him. Davey couldn’t stop himself. 

 

Jack moved back to kiss Davey, something that Davey could hardly even respond to. He couldn’t think, just gasped and moaned into Jack’s mouth because that was all he seemed to be able to do. His hands finally settled with one hand keeping Jack pressed close and the other tangled in his hair. 

Jack went back to kissing Davey’s neck and the feeling made Davey’s cognitive thought abandon him, he was relying entirely on instinct. He pulled at Jack’s hair, overwhelmingly pleased at the way it made Jack groan, biting harder at Davey’s neck. 

Jack unbuttoned the rest of Davey’s shirt, and the feeling of his fingers moving up Davey’s spine made Davey arch forward, anything to get closer to him. Jack responded by pushing Davey harder against the wall and marking his neck even darker. Davey thought he’d beg for more if he wasn’t so lost for words. 

Davey was trying to find purchase on Jack’s back apparently because his legs felt like they were going to give out. Jack wasn’t helping, just moved his hands down to Davey’s pants, and Davey would’ve probably died on the spot if-

"My god, please, stop for a second."

Davey almost fell as Jack moved away from him quickly. Jack was wide eyed and breathing hard, looking ready to run. 

“Calm down, it’s just me,” that voice said, and Davey was becoming increasingly sure that it was the voice of Satan himself. 

Jack spun towards Satan, clearly recognizing him. “Crutchie! What the hell? Why aren’t you asleep?”

Davey was still using the wall as support because his legs felt like noodles. 

Satan- actually, Crutchie, had a hand over his face like he could block out the sight of Jack and Davey. “It’s hard to sleep when you two are crashing around in here.”

Davey felt his dignity fly out the window, into the street, and get run over by a bus. 

Jack, it seemed, was still trying to hold onto his. “Uh, we weren’t-“

Crutchie squished Jack’s remaining dignity as he interrupted, “You're literally standing here shirtless. David has a killer hickey. You can't back out of this."

 

Davey groaned, peeling himself away from the wall finally. "I guess I should introduce myself." He extended a hand to Crutchie, his face burning so hot he was sure he was going to pass out. "I'm Davey. Maybe you remember me? Sorry for the lack of shirt." 

Crutchie shook his hand, a very sly smile on his face. "I don't mind but please, keep it down."

“We will,” Jack promised. 

Crutchie gave him a long look. “You better. I need beauty sleep to continue looking like sunshine personified, Jack Kelly.”

Jack nodded, glancing at Davey as Crutchie went back into his room. Jack groaned loudly as he turned to face Davey completely. “I’m so sorry, I thought he was asleep.”

Davey laughed because he had no idea what else to do. “No, it's fine, I just wasn't expecting him to show up. I hope it was a good first impression."

"It's getting pretty late. You can stay here for the night, I don't want you walking alone."

Davey pretended that he was considering it, but the idea of turning down staying at Jack Kelly’s house, possibly in his actual bed, was not something Davey could pass on with a clear conscience. "I'd like that a lot, actually, thank you,” Davey glanced down at his still bare chest. “Do you have a shirt I can wear?"

Jack didn’t answer, instead rummaging around the living room, looking behind the couch and on chairs until he located his own shirt that Davey had discarded earlier. “This work?”

Davey sighed, not because he didn’t want to wear it, but because the last person that had worn it was Jack. “Yeah.” He put it on quickly, mildly shocked at the extremely low neck. 

Jack didn’t seem fazed. He played with Davey’s hand for a moment, kissing him sweetly. Davey set his hands gently on Jack’s hips, glad for the change of pace. His neck sort of ached where Jack had left quite a few bruises, and his head needed a chance to stop spinning. Davey didn’t want to stop kissing him, but he was fighting off a yawn. 

“It’s late,” he said, his forehead pressed against Jack’s softly. “We should sleep.”

Jack’s pretty lips slipped into a pout, whining just a little when Davey kissed him again. He pulled Davey to his room, already pressing him back against the bed as the went into his room. Davey felt a single moment of panic as he fell backwards, Jack following him down without even breaking the kiss. Davey let Jack kiss him until he calmed down then pulled away, ignoring Jack’s whine. 

“Get ready for bed,” he said softly, his hand brushing against Jack’s hip gently. 

Davey watched Jack as he found a shirt, pulling it on. Davey moved so Jack could lay down, hoping just a little bit that Jack wouldn’t mind them sleeping closer. 

Jack laid down, pulling the blankets over both of them before pulling Davey towards him. Davey went willingly, wrapping an arm around Jack’s waist as he let his head rest on Jack’s chest. 

Jack was asleep long before Davey. Davey laid there, thoughts running loudly through his head. He was tempted to call Sarah. He texted her instead, just to say he was at Jack’s. The panic in his chest lessened just enough for Davey to drift off to sleep. 

 

Davey woke up with Jack spooning him. Honestly, there were much worse ways to wake up. His arm was completely asleep, and his hair was pressed against his face strangely. But Jack was warm behind him, his hand in Jack’s like they’d grabbed on in their sleep. 

Davey’s arm was way too asleep to manage anymore and he shifted, just enough to get his arm out from under him. He rolled to face Jack, a little bit surprised when he found him awake. 

“Hi,” he whispered, trying not to cringe at his sleep heavy voice. 

Jack was blinking at him tiredly, smiling a little as he regarded Davey. “Hi.”

Davey looked at Jack, the way the sunlight seemed to caress his face, like every little part of nature knew how perfect and lovely Jack Kelly was and wanted to make sure Davey saw it too. 

Davey wanted nothing more than to be closer, to hear Jack gasp and moan again. He kissed Jack’s collarbone softly, pleased at the small gasp Jack seemed to let out without meaning to. Jack moved so Davey didn’t have to angle his head weirdly, and Davey rewarded him with burning kisses across his throat. Jack was moving under him, very much awake, his breathing stuttering as Davey let his lips linger in teasing kisses. 

Davey was getting tired of not being on top of Jack. He pushed him back gently, trying not to linger on the feeling of Jack’s chest under his palms. He somehow managed to get a leg over Jack’s hips, careful not to press down as he let his hands move blindly over Jack’s chest. Jack was arching up into him, moaning as Davey nipped at his collarbone. He needed to get Jack’s stupid shirt of. 

He sat up and froze, his brain refusing to comprehend what he was seeing. 

“You okay?” Jack asked him. 

Davey felt his face break into a grin. He felt like he was going to bubble over with laughter. “This is the shirt you were wearing when we met,” he said, though they hadn’t really met. 

Jack seemed surprised as he looked at what he was wearing. “I sleep in this! I get hot at night,” his ears were just a little bit red. 

Davey couldn’t keep himself over Jack anymore. His body wracked with laughter as he let himself fall over on the bed, almost crying as he laughed. Jack’s stupid shirt had set him off and he couldn’t even look at him without laughing harder. 

 

Jack swatted lighty at Davey’s arm. “Stop! You’re being unfair.”

Davey stopped laughing because he knew Jack would only whine more. “I’m sorry, it’s just, who wears that to a club?” He was resisting wiping the tears from his eyes. 

“I do, when Race and Crutchie dress me,” Jack whined like it was a perfectly normal occurance. 

“I’m going to have to thank them,” Davey teases. 

“Can’t we just kiss and pretend they have nothing to do with this?” Jack said with a groan. 

"I’m sorry, Jack, I can't kiss you if you're wearing that shirt,” Davey said, barely managing to contain his laughter as he looked at the stupid shirt again. 

"This wasn't a problem earlier!" Jack whined, his arms folded over his chest as he sat up. 

Davey took a moment to make sure his face was feigning sympathy. “Aren’t you hungry?”

Jack’s stomach growled as if on cue. “A little bit. What time is it?” He wasn’t even looking at the clock. 

Davey looked at Jack’s clock for him, shocked at how late it was. “Almost eleven.”

“Race will make pancakes if we ask him nicely.” Jack said with a petty grin. 

“Your friends are interesting,” Davey said, moving so his legs were hanging off the side of the bed. The truth was he adored the idea of Jack’s friends, the people that could make him so happy. 

Jack moved behind Davey and draped himself over his back. “You can meet them later. I want food now.”

Jack pulled Davey up with him, already out his bedroom door. 

“Good morning you two,” one of Jack’s friends said. He was small, and freckled, and looked a little bit like an elf, and Davey liked him already, even in a Kiss The Cook apron. “You must be David,” he said to Davey. 

Davey didn’t miss his opportunity to shake his hand. “And you’re Race?” 

Race beamed like he was proud of Davey. “I hope you like pancakes.”

Davey didn’t even bother saying no. He didn’t like pancakes exactly, but he liked making them with his siblings and with his friends. At least he could have fun with Race. 

Jack settled at the table with Crutchie leaving Davey and Race alone. Davey wasn’t quite ready to face Crutchie. 

“You ever made pancakes before?” Race asked him. 

Davey laughed. “I have two siblings. This is Sunday tradition.”

“Oh? So you’re the pancake master then?” Race said jokingly. 

“Only at pancake art,” Davey said truthfully. 

Race’s eyebrows went even more pointy. “Art? Oh, you’re showing me this. I think we have a bottle somewhere.”

His rummaging attracted Jack’s attention, who asked skeptically, “What are you two doing?”

For a single moment Davey panicked like they were doing something wrong, then Race said smoothly, “Pancake art.”

“We are going to remake historically accurate aspects of Dresden,” Davey decided. 

Race didn’t even falter, already caught up on his plan. “I’m making a bomb.”

Jack turned back to Crutchie, satisfied. Davey, meanwhile, checked if Race knew what a aircraft bomb even looked like. 

“Please,” Race said with a laugh. “Project Manhattan.”

Davey had no idea what the United States nuclear missile project had to do with the 1945 bombing of Dresden, Germany, but he wasn’t going to question it as Race carefully squeezed out the batter. 

Davey was quite impressed with Race’s bomb and set about making an oil rig while Race attempted to make a train car on the rest of the pan. They ended up with a bit of blob that looked more like the cultural and historical center square of Dresden. Whatever, it wasn’t like Jack knew what he was looking at. 

They presented their pancakes with a flourish, both grinning. 

“Let me try,” Jack said, his hand brushing Davey’s wasit as he took the batter from him. He started with a very clean and lovely shape which slowly turned into a human head. His art skills failed him on the flip, leaving him with a lopsided smiley. “It was supposed to be you,” he said with a frown. 

Davey accepted the pancake anyways, quite pleased that Jack had even created him. 

Davey managed polite conversation the entire breakfast, though he could almost feel Crutchie’s eyes burning holes into his neck where he knew there were a few hickies. 

“I have to get back to my dorm and make sure my roommate knows I’m alive,” Davey said, making an excuse to leave. 

Jack brought their plates to the sink, looking at Davey sadly. “So soon?”

It was almost 1pm. “I’ve been here all night.”

Jack guided Davey to the door and he almost had his shoes on before he paused. “Where’s my shirt?”

Jack went to look and was interrupted by Race. “Is this it?” He asked with a very teasing grin. 

Davey struggled not to blush at all. “Yeah, toss it,” he said, miraculously catching it. “Thank you.” He paused his better judgement, pulling Jack’s shirt off and quickly buttoning up his own. 

“You really have to go?” Jack said with a whine as Davey struggled to get his shoes on. 

Davey kissed Jack softly instead of answering. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

Jack was playing with Davey’s hand again, his fingers brushing over Davey’s gently. “I’ll miss you.”

Davey’s heart did a very powerful flip in his chest as he struggled not to melt in Jack’s hands. He didn’t say anything, just kissed Jack once more and let himself out. 

He called Sarah the second he was back on the street. 

“You left me for Jack,” she said sternly. 

“Oh, I know, and I’m sorry, but oh my god,” Davey was almost tripping over his own feet as he walked. 

“Ohhhh, did you two hook up or something?”

“What? No, jeez. We just kissed. A lot. So much. His lips are like velvet, Sar, like, I can’t believe it,” Davey was rambling because he wasn’t thinking. 

“Ew, don’t make me think of my baby bro kissing someone.”

“I’m five minutes younger and you’ll listen to me because Jack Kelly is amazing and adorable and stupid, his stupid shirts and shorts, what an idiot,” Davey trailed off because he actually felt a little short of breath. “I’m gonna come over and babble more,” he promised. 

“I’ll see you then,” Sarah said, and Davey could hear the smile in her voice. 

 

Davey could only stay with Sarah for a few hours before he was back with Jack, surrounded by books, and working. They were doing their best to balance working with kissing, but Davey’s lips were already a little sore and they were just now starting their argumentative paragraphs. 

Somehow they managed to finish the paper, not that day, but a few later, just hours before the deadline. 

Davey watched Jack hand it in with a huge grin. He didn’t know what he was more proud of. Their huge research paper, or the fact that one lap dance had lead to him dating Jack Kelly. 

The bombs of Dresden felt like they were going off in his chest as he looked at Jack, pulling him in for a long kiss. Maybe there was always something to learn from history, and always chances to take. And even stupid shirts to wear.

**Author's Note:**

> Me: finishes this at my damn graduation so I can post it on time
> 
> Laptop: dies forever
> 
> So this was written and posted on my phone sorry for that
> 
> I should put some sappy stuff about how this fic has changed my life and I’ve met so many people and been so close to the fandom but no I hate this fic have a blast yall


End file.
